Pentagon picks Bender to be new Air Force CIO
Currently serving in Baghdad, Maj. Gen. William Bender would replace Lt. Gen. Michael Basla.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has named Maj. Gen. William J. Bender to serve as the next CIO of the Air Force, replacing Lt. Gen. Michael Basla.
Bender, currently serving as deputy chief in the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq in Baghdad, would be promoted to the rank of Lt. General, the Defense Department said in an announcement. His full title, like Basla’s, would be chief of information dominance and CIO.
Bender has been stationed in Baghdad since July 2013, and before that was commander of the Air Force Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, according to his Air Force bio. From August 2009 to October 2010, he served as director of warfighter systems integration at the Office of Information Dominance and CIO’s office in the Pentagon.
Basla has held the CIO’s post since June 2012. There was no word on when he would formally step down or when Bender would take over.